Polymers, such as polyorganosilicones and polyesters, can be found in every corner of today's society due to their excellent mechanical and chemical properties. Polyorganosilicones, including polysilanes and polycarbosiloxanes, have interesting properties such as photo-conductivity and luminescence, and possess high thermal stability at the same time. See, e.g., Chojnowski et al., Polymer Preprints, 42, 227 (2001); Interrante et al., Polymer Preprints, 42, 225 (2001); Zhong et al., Langmuir, 16, 10369 (2000); and Bruma et al., J. Macromol. Sci. Polymer Reviews, C41, 1 (2001). Polyesters, on the other hand, because of their degradability, can be used in biomedical applications such as sustained-release drug delivery. See, e.g., Kopecek et al., J. Biomed. Mater. Res. Symp., 1, 43 (1971).
These polymers have been traditionally prepared by chemical synthesis, which normally consumes large quantities of solvents and starting materials, which, in turn, can damage the environment. Environment-friendly synthetic methods for making such polymers are therefore highly desirable.